Clothes guard for automatic washers



Dec. 27, 1960 A. H. GERHARDT 2,966,051

CLOTHES GUARD FOR AUTOMATIC WASHERS Filed July 3, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 andrewfi: Ger'kardz? Dec. 27, 1960 A. H. GERHARDT 2,966,051

CLOTHES GUARD FOR AUTOMATIC WASHERS Filed July 3, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 fave/12 57 Q'ndrewfif Gerardi ilLfi'iHES GUARD FOR AUTOMATIC WASlERS Andrew Gerhardt, Herrin, 111., assignor to Borg- Warner Corporation, Chicago, 111., a corporation of liiinois Filed July 3, 1957, Ser. No. 669,853

3 Claims. (Cl. 63-23) This invention relates to clothes guards for automatic washers of the type utilizing a receptacle adapted to contain clothes for washing and rinsing purposes and being rotatable to centrifugally extract water from the clothes to partially dry the clothes.

Automatic washers of the type described embody controls for causing operation of the washer to provide washing, centrifugal extraction, and rinsing cycles. During the clothes washing cycle, the clothes are immersed in wash water in a receptacle or tub and moved through the water by an agitator driven by the Washer mechanism. In the extraction cycle, the wash water is evacuated from the tub by rapidly rotating or spinning the tub toextract the water from the clothes by centrifugal force, the wash water moving up an inclined side wall of the tub and passing through openings at the top of the tub into a container where the water may be pumped to a drain. In the subsequent rinsing cycle, the clothes are subjected to several rinsing operations usually including deep-rinsing in which rinse water is agitated and caused to overflow the tub, carrying with it scum, sediment, and detergent liquid, this rinsing operation being followed by an agitation rinse period without overflow. The washing operation is concluded by spinning the tub to extract rinse water from the clothes to partially dry the clothes.

Prior to initiation and during these cycles of operation of the washer, it is possible that articles of clothing, such as socks, handkerchiefs, or undergarments may be displaced from the tub by movement of the articles over the rim of the tub into the container. Such action may occur in cases where the tube is inadvertently filled with an excess amount of water and/or clothing articles, causing the articles to float over the top of the tub or during operation of the agitator. Also, during the overflow rinse operation, the clothing articles may float over the top of the tub rim into the container.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved clothes guard adapted to be mounted on a clothes-containing tub of a washer to prevent the passage of articles from the tub into a water-collecting container about the tub.

It is another object of the invention to provide an improved clothes guard in the form of a flexible ring readily attachable to the rim of the clothes-receiving tub of a washer and effective to prevent articles of clothing from passing over the rim of the tub into a water-collecting container of the washer.

it is a further object of the invention to provide an improved clothes guard of the type and for the purpose described provided with a serrated surface adapted to contact articles for clothing brought in proximity there to by the washer operation to prevent movement of the clothes from the tub into the container.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is an isometric view of the washing machine;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view of a typical automatic washer embodying a preferred form of the clothes guard of the present invention, portions of the washer Cal Patented Dec. 2?, 196% being shown in elevation to illustrate more clearly the construction thereof;

Fig. 3 is an isometric view of a portion of the washer tub shown in Fig. 1 and illustrating the clothes guard attachment to the tub; and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of a portion of the washer structure and the clothes guard shown in Fig. 2.

The drawings are to be understood to be more or less of a schematic character for the purpose of illustrating and disclosing a typical or preferred form of the improvements contemplated herein and in the drawings like reference characters identify the same parts in the several views.

Referring to the drawings, the clothes guard with which the present invention is particularly concerned is designated in its entirety by the numeral 10 and is shown incorporated in a washing machine comprising, in general, the component parts assemblies respectively indicated in their entirety by the letters as follows: a cabinet A exemplifying the external appearance of the automatic filling, Washing, rinsing and water extracting machine as shown in Fig. 1 and being hereinafter referred to simply as a washing machine; a basket or tub B of the centrifugal extracting type disposed within the cabinet A; an agitator C operatively disposed within the basket B; a transmission D, the housing of which forms a part of and is carried by the basket B for rotation therewith when the basket is rotated for centrifugal water extraction operations and is adapted to impart an oscillatory motion to the agitator C; and a sequential control M as disclosed in a co-pending patent application of Joseph M. Gartner, Serial Number 262,760, filed December 21, 1951, and entitled Sequential Control, and which is adapted to regulate the operation of the various elements in proper sequence to perform the operations involving filling, washing, rinsing and water extraction.

In Fig. 1, there is illustrated the cabinet A which houses the entire mechanism and control system therefor and which comprises a cover 11, a front panel 12, side panels respectively indicated at 13 and 14, and a control panel 15 forming a part of and projecting upwardly from the cover 11 as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2.

In Figs. 1 and 2, the cover 11 is provided with a hinged lid 16 to form a closure member for an opening 17 through which clothes or other articles to be cleansed may be introduced to the machine. The hinged lid 16 is so disposed with respect to the opening 17 that it will be flush with the surface of the cover 11 when it is in its closed position. One or more metal straps 13 pivotally disposed in mountings secured to the under side of the cover 11 serve to provide a hinged mounting for the lid 16 with respect to the cover 11.

On the left-hand side of the control panel 15 there is disposed a cont ol switch 19 which provides a means for manually selectively presenting the operation of an automatic temperature control mixing valve (not shown) forming a part of the water supplying means. The mixing valve may be any one of the many conventional types presently available and which serve to provide for the introduction of cl aning fluids, in this case, water at a proper temperature to insure proper cleansing of the articles to be laundered.

On the rigit-hand side of the control panel 15 there is disposed a control knob it which provides a means for manually operating the sequential control M. The length of the washing cycle may be predetermined and set within certain limitations by the manual adjustment of the control knob 20.

Disposed within the cabinet A is a water tight outer tub designated in its entirety by the numeral 21 (Fig. 2). It can be seen in Fig. 2 that the outer tub 21 comprises a bottom wall 22 and upstanding side walls as at 23 terminating in an open top 24 providing an annular opening, the periphery of which is disposed within the confines of the cabinet top 11 and the peripheral edge of which is provided with an annular shaped seal 25 adapted to engage portions of the inside surface of the cover in order to prevent water from splashing out of the tub and between the outer surface of the tub and the interior of the cabinet A. r

Disposed within the outer tub and arranged for relative rotation therebetween and spaced from the walls 23 of the tub, there is provided the combination washing tub and water extracting basket B. As will best be seen in Fig. 2, the basket B comprises an imperforate bottom wall 27 having an annular ofi'set at 28 projecting inwardly of the tub and terminating in an annular inwardly projecting flange 29 connected to and adapted to be driven by the transmission D during the water extraction cycle of the machine.

Integrally formed with the cover of the cabinet A and projecting inwardly thereof substantially coaxially with the geometrical axis of rotation of the tub B, there is provided an annular flange 30 adapted to present a relatively smooth surface to define a throat through which the fabrics and other materials to be washed may be introduced to the combination washing tub and water extracting basket B without danger of the fingers of the operator being injured or caught between the adjacent operating parts of the washer.

In order to provide further for the advantageous insertion of the clothes into the combination washing tub and water extracting basket B, there is provided an annular flange 31 defining an annular opening 32 forming a continuation of the aforementioned throat for'the purpose of directing the passage of the clothes or other material to be washed into the tub and basket B to perform washing actions thereon. It is to be noted that the annular flange 31 is formed so that portions thereof will project downwardly within the confines of the tube and basket B to present an oblique wall 33 and thereafter terminate in an annular flange 34which is formed to define a corrugated-like shape so as to provide between these corrugated formations a series of apertures as at 35 through which fluid may pass.

The flanged throat element 31 may be suitably sup ported by any convenient means to the peripheral flange 30 of the combination washing tub and water extracting basket B. Moreover, it can be seen that the peripheral flange 3i and the corrugated-like formations on the flange 34 forming therebetween a series of apertures 35 hereinb'efore mentioned and through which water may pass into the outer tub 21 as indicated by the arrows for retention or removal therefrom.

in operation, the rotation of the combination washing tub and water extracting basket B at extremely high speeds during the extraction operation will cause the centrifugal forces to move the mass of water outwardly from the geometrical center of rotation and, by virtue of the inclined upstanding annular wall 36 of the combination washing tub and water extracting basket B the water will tend to flow upwardly through the passage defined by the oblique wall 33 and the adjacent portion of the wall 36 and thereafter, through the apertures 35 formed by the corrugated-like formations on the annular flange 34, whereupon the water will be discharged into the confines of the outer tub 21 for disposal by the pump L to a drain. it is important to understand centrifuge action of the basket B will empty the water disposed therein in a matter of a few seconds, thus presenting a substantial saving of time in the wash cycle.

In the operation of the washing machine described, clothes or other articles to be laundered are inserted into the basket B of the washing machine, and soap or a detergent may be poured onto the clothes in the machine. The sequential control knob may be pulled outwardly and moved to its extreme left-hand position and then pushed inwardly to set a timer mechanism in operation to perform the various sequential operations of the cycle. With the timer mechanism operative, the basket B is filled for a predetermined time period with a sufficient quantity of water varying with the amount and kind of clothes to be washed, the conventional washing operation requiring that the basket be filled with water to the level indicated in Fig. 2 adjacent the top of the basket. Thereafter, the timer mechanism causes a motor (not shown) to become operative to cause the transmission D to oscillate the agitator C to perform its washing function upon the clothes for a certain period of time. Upon the conclusion of the allotted time for the washing of the clothes by agitation, the timer mechanism becomes operative to stop the motor and reverse the direction of rotation of the motor to cause the transmission D to rotate the basket B for water-extracting operations. In this operation, the rotation of the basket B at extremely high speeds causes centrifugal forces to move the mass of water outwardly from the geometrical center of rotation and, by virtue of the inclined annular wall 36 of the basket, the water tends to flow upwardly through the passage defined by the oblique wall 33 and the adjacent portion of the wall 36 and thereafter through the apertures 35 formed by the corrugatedlike formations on the annular flange 34 so that the water is discharged into the outer water-collecting container or tub 21 for disposal. The water-extraction operation is accomplished very quickly; and as a result, the water in the outer tub 21 accumulates the water until the pump P can disposed of the water. The pump is of the type that can operate in two directions of rotation so that it is continually operative during operation of the agitator and during the extracting operation. After the water-extraction spin operation, the timer M is effective to provide a spin rinse of warm water which is effective to remove extraneous scum and detergent fluid remaining in the basket after the first water-extraction spin operation has been completed. Subsequently, the timer will stop current supplied to the motor to stop spinning of the basket B and to permit the basket to be filled with warm rinse water, the agitator then becoming operative during continuous supply of water to the basket to provide an agitated overflow rinse, particularly desirable to clear the clothes in the basket of all scum, sediment and detergent fluid. If the water supply is continuous during this operation, the water fills the basket and overflows through the apertures 35 and to the outer tub 21 for disposal by the pump. Subsequently, an agitated rinse period without overflow is provided and the motor is then reversed for the purpose of spinning the tub and basket B to extract water from the clothes. The washing operation is concluded by a spin rinse followed by water extraction.

During the above-described washing operation, or dur ing the overflow rinse operation and the subsequent extraction operation, articles of clothing, such as socks, handkerchiefs, and undergarments, may float over the outer edge or rim 37 of the flange 36 of the basket or tub B and into the outer tub 21 so that the drain 38 may become clogged by the article, thereby preventing removal of the water in the outer tub by the pump L.

The present invention is directed particularly to a clothes guard for preventing the escape of articles of clothing from the inner tub by precluding movement of the articles over the rim of the tub B into the outer tub 21. The presently preferred embodiment of the invention comprises a clothes guard in the form of a flexible ring 39 adapted to be detachably mounted on a bead 40 provided by the outwardly directed and rolled-over edge 37 ofthe annular flange 31 of the tub as shown inFigs. 2, 3 and 4 of the drawings. More particularly, the clothes guard 39 has its annular body formed to provide a radially inwardly directed groove 41 adapted to receive the bead 40 of the flange 31 of the tub B. The flexible ring 39 may be formed with an internal cavity 42 in the body thereof, defined by an arcuate portion 43 extending downwardly from the top of the ring and toward and into the tub and being formed to provide a series of horizontally extending saw-toothed corrugations or serrations 44 on the internal circumference of the ring.

The clothes guard or ring is preferably formed of rubber or other suitable resilient material and having a diameter permitting expansion of the ring to encompass the bead 40 on the rim of the tub B and to dispose the bead 40 within the annular groove 41 in the guard ring. It is, of course, evident that the ring may be formed of any type of material having the characteristics of flexibility for encompassing and snugly engaging the bead 40 of the tub and resistance to deterioration by contact with washing solutions. It will be noted that the serrated radially inward portion of the guard ring extends and projects toward the axis of rotation of the tub to effectively come into contact with and prevent any further upward movement of articles of clothing in the tub during washer operation; for example, during overflow rinsing of the clothes. It has been determined that, even in the event that the tub is filled with water up to the apertures in the tub, clothing floating on the top of the water during the agitation operation, and rising under the impetus of the water-extraction operation of the machine, will not pass over the rim of the tub. While the preferred embodiment of the invention illustrates a clothes guard having serrations, it is contemplated that the inwardly facing surface of the guard ring can be provided with other configurations effective to prevent any possibility of articles of clothing passing over the rim of the tub B into the Water-collecting outer tub.

The invention is not particularly concerned with the precise construction of the automatic washing machine hereinbefore described generally, but is equally applicable to any type of washing machine embodying an inner clothes-receiving tub and an outer water-collecting tub and, accordingly, the invention is not to be limited to the construction of the washing machine elements as set forth above, except where such construction particularly concerns the invention contemplated.

While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described, many modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention, and the invention is not to be limited to the precise details of construction set forth, but to all changes coming within the scope of the appended claims.

1 claim:

1. In a clothes washing machine adapted to perform a sequence of clothes washing operations including overflow wash and rinse operations comprising a casing having a clothes receiving opening in the top thereof; an imperforate clothes receiving basket disposed within said casing and rotatable relative to said casing and having an open top; liquid overflow means adjacent the top of said basket; annular wall means about the top of said basket and extending inwardly of said basket and above said overflow means and providing a clothes receiving opening for said basket; and a flexible ring resiliently engageable with said wall means and spaced from the top of said casing, said flexible ring having annular serrations on the inner surface extending radially inward into the clothes receiving opening of said basket to prevent clothes movement past said flexible ring and over said wall means and into said casing during the overflow operations.

2. In a clothes washing machine adapted to perform a sequence of clothes washing operations including overflow wash and rinse operations comprising a casing having a clothes receiving opening in the top thereof; an imperforate clothes receiving basket disposed within said casing and rotatable relative to said casing and having an open top; liquid overflow means adjacent the top of said basket; annular wall means about the top of said basket and extending inwardly of said basket and above said overflow means and having a rim defining a clothes receiving opening for said basket; a bead projecting outwardly from said rim; and a flexible ring surrounding said rim and having an annular groove receiving and resiliently gripping said bead on said rim, said ring being spaced from the top of said casing and having annular serrations on the inner surface thereof adjacent the clothes receiving opening to prevent clothes movement over said rim and into said casing during the overflow operations.

3. In a clothes washing machine adapted to perform a sequence of clothes washing operations including overflow wash and rinse operations comprising a casing having a clothes receiving opening in the top thereof; an imperforate clothes receiving basket disposed within said casing and rotatable relative to said casing and having an open top; liquid overflow means adjacent the top of said basket; annular Wall means about the top of said basket and extending inwardly of said basket and above said overflow means and having a rim defining a clothes receiving opening for said basket and provided with a bead projecting outwardly fiom said rim; and a flexible ring surrounding said rim and having an annular groove receiving and resiliently gripping said head on said rim, said ring being spaced from the top of said casing and projecting radially inward into the clothes receiving opening of said basket and having a serrated surface to prevent clothes movement over said rim and into said casing during the overflow operations.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,995,926 Kirby Mar. 26, 1935 2,498,544 Gerhardt Feb. 21, 1950 2,522,806 Stageberg Sept. 19, 1950 2,613,837 Morton Oct. 14, 1952 2,687,633 Sharp et al. Aug. 31, 1954 

